For Immediate Release August 20, 2009
Contact: Corey Welford/Jessica Venezia 781-897-8325
Winning Teen Dating Violence PSA Project Ready For Air
PSA Being Submitted To Local Stations After Post-Production Help From Local Advertising Firm
BOSTON – Somerville High School’s winning Public Service Announcement on Teen Dating Violence is ready to hit the airwaves, Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone’s office informed the public today. The PSA was chosen as the winner by a vote of more than 1000 high school students across Middlesex County and will now be submitted to local television stations for possible airing across the state.
The winning entry, entitled “A Cry For Help,” was submitted by a group of students from Somerville High School. The students involved in the video were: Mitch Freitas, Jason Corey, Aakash Sharma, Jerry Alphonse, Anthony Bohan, and Stefanie Vivian. To view the winning video, please click here.
Part of the prize for winning the contest was the chance to work with Conover Tuttle Pace, ctpboston.com, a Boston Advertising and Public Relations Firm, on the video’s post-production. The students were involved with Conover Tuttle throughout the post-production process, working to improve the audio and length of the students’ PSA. Conover Tuttle Pace and production houses EditBar (video) in Boston and Rumblestrip (audio) in Brookline each donated their time free of charge to the project.
“Somerville High School truly captured the message that Teen Dating Violence is a very real problem for many teens,” District Attorney Leone said. “The winning PSA is a compelling video that helps communicate to other teens that there is help available to them if they find themselves in an unhealthy dating relationship. I want to once again congratulate the winning students from Somerville and thank all of the students who participated in the production and voting on this project. We are also extremely grateful for Conover Tuttle Pace’s partnership and all of the time that they volunteered.”
The winning PSA was one of 35 entries the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office received.
The District Attorney’s Teen Dating Violence PSA project, created in conjunction with Middlesex Partnerships For Youth, Inc. and REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, was initiated in an effort to spark a positive dialogue and encourage teens to speak out against teen dating violence. Launched in April, it asked high school students from throughout Middlesex County to create and produce their own PSAs on the issue of teen dating violence.
A total of 35 entries were submitted by more than 200 students from throughout the county. The six PSA finalists were then selected from those entries by a panel of school personnel, domestic violence experts, and members of the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.
Those six PSA finalists were then viewed and voted on by more than 1000 high school students in health and physical education classes throughout Middlesex County.
After Somerville was named the winner, the students worked with staff from Conover Tuttle Pace, to professionally edit the video.
Teen dating violence has long been a focus of the District Attorney’s Office and domestic violence service organizations like REACH. However, the recent incident in which pop star Chris Brown was charged with allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, Rihanna, has placed a new spotlight on this troubling dynamic.
Among the statistics that demonstrate the challenges we face regarding the issue of teen dating violence:
1 in 3 teenagers report knowing a friend or peer who has been hit, punched, kicked, slapped, choked or physically hurt by their partner
Youth, specifically between the ages of 16 to 24, experience the highest per capita rate of intimate partner violence in the nation
Following news reports on the alleged incident between Chris Brown and Rihanna, a survey of Boston teens revealed that 46% of respondents believed that Rihanna was in some way responsible. In addition, 44% said that fighting was a normal part of a relationship.
To learn more about teen dating violence, please visit:
· http://www.loveisnotabuse.com
· http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/topics/dateviolence.asp
Since he began serving as Middlesex District Attorney in January 2007, Leone has launched a number of initiatives to better serve victims and enhance the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence cases. Leone created the office’s Domestic Violence Unit, a team of specific prosecutors and victim witness advocates charged with investigating and prosecuting DV cases. That unit also offers comprehensive trainings for local police departments as well as organizes community-based Domestic Violence Roundtables throughout the county. In addition, Leone created a first-of-its-kind program to help victims of domestic violence during the restraining order process. Specifically, because prosecutors are not allowed to represent victims during that process, Leone’s office has partnered with private law firms to help assure that victims are afforded pro bono legal services during these restraining order hearings that are critical in helping victims extricate themselves from abusive relationships. Leone’s office has also partnered with organizations to form community-based DV rapid response programs.
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